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A paper Christmas dinner is arranged beside a snowy window, with candles, a roast and a nativity ornament by the gravy boat. Rope rests on a chair against a quiet teal wall.

Christmas-adjacent · 1994

The Ref

57/100Festive FactorWhy it scores 57 ↓
UK certificate 1597 min
Comedy · Drama

Made for anyone who has sat through a family Christmas dinner and needed a lie-down afterwards.

Rent or buy · Prime Video →
Plan this film night ↓Can the kids watch? ↓
Explore this film 10 sections

The CineClaus Christmas score

Festive Factor

Christmas in good measure.

Two paper elves examine a miniature Christmas dining room on a workbench. One holds a magnifying glass above the set table, while plans and craft tools lie in front.

A little magic in the making.

Five ingredients make the Festive Factor.
Open an ingredient to find out more.

Christmas in the storyChristmas drives it, but another occasion could stand in.20/30

What we ask: Take Christmas out. Does the plot survive? Worth up to 30 of the 100 points.

A world dressed for ChristmasVisibly Christmas for most of it.15/20

What we ask: How much of the running time is visibly Christmas? Worth up to 20 of the 100 points.

The little seasonal details6 of the 10 kinds of Christmas icon we count turn up on screen.9/15

What we ask: How many kinds of Christmas icon turn up on screen: trees, lights, snow, carols and the rest? Worth up to 15 of the 100 points.

A Christmas heartHow far the ending rests on goodwill, family and belief: partly.10/20

What we ask: Does the ending depend on what Christmas means: goodwill, family, redemption, belief? Worth up to 20 of the 100 points.

A returning traditionNiche at Christmas (under 25,000).3/15

What we ask: Is it actually watched at Christmas in the UK? Worth up to 15 of the 100 points.

57/100

Cosiness Rating Rating

Mixed in tone. Moderate threat. A content ending.

How we score →
What do these scores mean?

Festive Factor measures how Christmassy a film is. Five ingredients add up to 100: story (30), setting (20), seasonal details (15), emotional heart (20) and returning tradition (15).

Cosiness is a separate score for warmth of tone, sense of safety, visual comfort, a reassuring ending and how easily you can settle into it.

How the Festive Factor works →
Your next film night

Where to watch

United KingdomChecked

Prime Video

Rent or buy
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The Ref · Rental and purchase cost extra, separately from membership.

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Streaming changes constantly and we cannot promise it is still right - check the service before you settle in. Streaming availability information provided by Streaming Availability API by Movie of the Night (opens in a new tab).

The story

About The Ref

On Christmas Eve a cat burglar's job goes wrong, and with police closing roads across town he grabs a well-off couple as hostages and holes up in their house. The pair are in the middle of a vicious marital breakdown, their teenage son is on his way home, and the in-laws are due for dinner, so the thief ends up posing as their marriage counsellor and refereeing the family's rows while he waits for a way out.

The CineClaus verdict

Made for anyone who has sat through a family Christmas dinner and needed a lie-down afterwards.

Denis Leary's burglar spends Christmas Eve refereeing a marriage in freefall, and Judy Davis matches him insult for insult. It is loud, profane and properly funny, with more bite than most festive comedies dare. The season does real work here, though the story would survive a move to another holiday.

The softened ending lands warmer than the rest. Watch it with your partner after the in-laws have left, and enjoy somebody else's family rows for a change.

The family desk

Can the kids watch?

15

Our take: rated 15. Not one for the kids: near-constant strong swearing, a hostage-taking at gunpoint and a lot of vicious marital rowing, so save it for older teenagers and adults.

Content advice & accessibility
Our age guidance
Editorial, separate from the official 15 certificate, and never looser than it.
The people behind the film

Cast and crew

The faces in front of the camera, and the people who brought the story to life.

Main cast

In billing order
Denis Leary on stage holding a microphone, smiling, in a dark leather jacket against a black background.Denis Learyas Gus
Close portrait of Judy Davis at a microphone, wearing a black top and a triple strand of pearls, with swept-up auburn hair.Judy Davisas Caroline Chasseur
Close-up portrait of Kevin Spacey smiling, wearing a dark tuxedo jacket, white shirt and black bow tie.Kevin Spaceyas Lloyd Chasseur
Robert J. Steinmiller Jr.as Jesse Chasseur
Glynis Johnsas Rose Chasseur

Behind the camera

Directed by
Ted Demme
Original score
David A. Stewart
Writing & production credits
Writer
Richard LaGravenese
Photo credits

Portraits via Wikimedia Commons, each under its own licence, approved for this page by a person. Sources and full photographer credits:

Denis Leary · Adam Freese at https://www.flickr.com/photos/31582437@N05/ · Source image (opens in a new tab) · CC BY 2.0 (opens in a new tab).

Judy Davis · Eva Rinaldi · Source image (opens in a new tab) · CC BY-SA 2.0 (opens in a new tab).

Kevin Spacey · Harald Krichel · Source image (opens in a new tab) · CC BY-SA 4.0 (opens in a new tab).

Keep the Christmas feeling

Music & soundtrack

That tune you recognised. That score you loved. Take a little of the film into the rest of your Christmas.

The original score album, track by track.

Behind the music. David A. Stewart composed the score.

About this music list

These are the songs and soundtrack we hold for the film, not a complete cue sheet, and they give no scene timings. Album track lists and durations come from MusicBrainz. Spotify and Apple Music links open the matched recordings; links marked Search open a search on that service.

Wikidata ↗ (opens in a new tab) MusicBrainz ↗ (opens in a new tab)

Step into the story

Filming locations

The real places behind The Ref. Choose one to explore.

Find it on the mapNiagara-on-the-Lake

© OpenStreetMap contributors (opens in a new tab)

Open larger map ↗ (OpenStreetMap, opens in a new tab)

Map shows the selected place. Drag to explore; use + and − to zoom.

Photo credits & location sources

These are photographs of the places, not film stills. Dates vary; photographs do not show current conditions or guarantee access.

Niagara-on-the-Lake · Paste Let’s have a chat. / Paste at English Wikipedia · Source image (opens in a new tab) · CC BY-SA 3.0 (opens in a new tab) · laughingplace.com (opens in a new tab)

Map pins mark the place, not a camera position or a route. Map data © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL), including any pin positions read from OpenStreetMap.

A little more The Ref

Film facts &
behind the scenes

For the fans who stay after the credits.

On set

Connecticut played by Ontario

The story is set in Connecticut, but the production shot mostly in Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario, which provided the snowy New England streets.

Read the story

Source: laughingplace.com ↗ (opens in a new tab)

Movie magic

Four hundred feet of fake snowbank

The shoot was in warmer weather than the Christmas Eve setting suggests, so the crew built more than 400 feet of artificial snowbanks to dress the streets.

Read the story

Source: d23.com ↗ (opens in a new tab)

On set

The ending was changed after test screenings

Audience reaction at test screenings was negative, so the original ending was changed. Director Ted Demme later said he regretted the change.

Reveal the story · spoiler

Source: laughingplace.com ↗ (opens in a new tab)

And at a glance

The Christmas in it
Snow on screen. Set on 24 December. The story plays out over one Christmas Eve night, with snowbanks built by the crew because the shoot took place in summer.
Releases and certificates
: In cinemas (US). General US release, two days after a limited opening in Los Angeles and New York.
Sources & a note on these facts

Each production story is linked to its source, in our own words. Ending details stay behind a spoiler reveal.

Good to know

Questions about The Ref

When is The Ref set?

The whole story takes place on one Christmas Eve, and the production dressed its streets with artificial snowbanks to match.

When did The Ref come out?

It opened in limited release in the US on 9 March 1994, with a general release on 11 March 1994.

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More places to find The Ref, and a few good reasons to keep exploring.

In this collection

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The Ref is in this collection

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Collection

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